Back-to-School Safety: Why the School Bus is the Safest Choice

By Stephanie Shaw, NTSB Safety Advocate

I work in transportation safety every day, but every morning before I leave the house, I make sure my children get to school safely. For my daughter, that means making sure she gets to the school bus on time.

Like many parents, I send my daughter to school on a bus that is not equipped with seat belts, because I know that even without seat belts, it’s still the safest way for her to get to and from school. In fact, students are 70 times more likely to get to school safely when taking the school bus than when traveling by car, even if the bus doesn’t have seat belts.

That being said, school buses are even safer with lap/shoulder belts, especially because lap/shoulder belts can protect your child from side-to-side movement during a rollover crash. At the NTSB, we believe that your child needs that added protection. In May, we recommended that states only purchase new school buses that are equipped with lap/shoulder belts for all passenger seating positions. We also recommended collision avoidance systems and automatic emergency braking on newly manufactured school buses, to further enhance school bus safety in the future.

Check out our school bus safety video featuring NTSB’s Dr. Kris Poland, who explains compartmentalization, talks about a few of our crash investigations, and discusses the added safety benefit of lap/shoulder belts in school buses.

Before setting out on your journey to the bus stop, refresh your knowledge of safe school bus practices, and then talk about safety with your children. Remind your kids to sit facing forward in their seat when the vehicle is in motion, to buckle up if the bus is equipped with seat belts, and to be aware of traffic on the roads when it’s time to step on or off. Last but not least, if you or your child have concerns about a bus driver’s behavior, by all means, report it to the school principal or bus company.

Over the next few weeks, nearly 50 million children will head back to school; more than 20 million of them will ride on a school bus. Although there’s much to be done to make school bus transportation even safer, it’s still the safest way to get to and from school. When possible, make the school bus the preferred method of transportation for your kids this school year.